as in loads
a mass or quantity of something taken up and carried, conveyed, or transported
the space shuttle can carry a maximum payload of approximately 50,000 pounds
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Recent Examples of payloads
Both rockets released their payloads—think ion guages, magnetometers, and vapor chasers; the latter released colorful puffs of gas—during an auroral substorm.
—
Michael D'estries, Travel + Leisure, 7 Apr. 2025
The Falcon 9's upper stage, meanwhile, continued its ascent into LEO with its 27 payloads.
—Josh Dinner, Space.com, 7 Apr. 2025
Under Musk’s leadership, SpaceX reduced the cost of launching payloads to orbit by a factor of ten.
—Dev Patnaik, Forbes.com, 7 Apr. 2025
Featuring special vibration-damping propellers that fold in when not in use, the aircraft can lift payloads of up to 15 kg (33 lb).
—Ben Coxworth, New Atlas, 6 Apr. 2025
Vulcan may finally be on the cusp of delivering for the Space Force, but there are several military payloads in the queue to launch on Vulcan before GPS III SV-08, which was complete and in storage at its Lockheed Martin factory in Colorado.
—Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 8 Apr. 2025
The unmanned surface vessel can host a variety of payloads, such as tethered or untethered unmanned aerial vehicle systems, explosive charges, munitions, or surveillance systems, which are hosted and operated via the vessel’s native software system.
—Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 8 Apr. 2025
There were no payloads aboard Spectrum's first test flight today.
—Brett Tingley, Space.com, 30 Mar. 2025
The new rocket launched again last October, on a test flight that did not carry any customer payloads.
—Mike Wall, Space.com, 27 Mar. 2025
Michael D'estries, Travel + Leisure, 7 Apr. 2025
The Falcon 9's upper stage, meanwhile, continued its ascent into LEO with its 27 payloads.
—Josh Dinner, Space.com, 7 Apr. 2025
Under Musk’s leadership, SpaceX reduced the cost of launching payloads to orbit by a factor of ten.
—Dev Patnaik, Forbes.com, 7 Apr. 2025
Featuring special vibration-damping propellers that fold in when not in use, the aircraft can lift payloads of up to 15 kg (33 lb).
—Ben Coxworth, New Atlas, 6 Apr. 2025
Vulcan may finally be on the cusp of delivering for the Space Force, but there are several military payloads in the queue to launch on Vulcan before GPS III SV-08, which was complete and in storage at its Lockheed Martin factory in Colorado.
—Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 8 Apr. 2025
The unmanned surface vessel can host a variety of payloads, such as tethered or untethered unmanned aerial vehicle systems, explosive charges, munitions, or surveillance systems, which are hosted and operated via the vessel’s native software system.
—Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 8 Apr. 2025
There were no payloads aboard Spectrum's first test flight today.
—Brett Tingley, Space.com, 30 Mar. 2025
The new rocket launched again last October, on a test flight that did not carry any customer payloads.
—Mike Wall, Space.com, 27 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Payloads.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/payloads. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.
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